Richards Bay wants a container terminal

Richards Bay is lobbying government to build a container terminal at the port to relieve congestion at Durban Harbour even though Transnet is set on building a new multi-billion facility at the old international airport site south of Durban.

Business Day says that the new industrial development zone at Richards Bay was officially opened earlier this week and quotes KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize as saying that the time has come for South Africa to ship finished products to the rest of the world instead of just raw materials.

KwaZulu-Natal's MEC for economic development and tourism, Mike Mabuyakhulu says that the envisaged Richards Bay container terminal would "be positioned differently" from the Durban one and would focus on exports.

Richards Bay Mayor Elphas Mbatha says the benefits of a container terminal at Richards Bay include shorter road distances to Gauteng, a good railway network to transport products and plenty of space at the Richards Bay Harbour.

He says a new container terminal in the town would create jobs and would probably be cheaper to build than a similar facility Durban. Richards Bay handles dry bulk exports and moved a total of 85-million tons of raw materials including 62-million tons of coal for the year to March 2011.